by A. Berthoz The publication of this volume, edited by Adriano Ferrari and Giovanni Cioni, is a major event for several reasons. Most importantly, it concerns an area of child pathology that has yet to be fully explored. In this context, the authors' efforts to compile their observations as well as those of other clinicians and to elaborate their theories have resulted in an ess- tial step in the field of cerebral palsy (CP). The originality of the book is its very clear focus, while at the same time the authors have encouraged the book's contributors to express their ideas and personal opinions. This leads sometimes to redundancy, but this is precisely one of the benefits of the book - cause the same problems are then exposed from different points of views. The reader is thus spared the normative attempts of many other pathology books, in which the compl- ity of a given disease is hidden by the authors' or editors' desire to impose a rigid taxo- my or epidemiology.

Il libro, frutto delle riflessioni sulla paralisi cerebrale infantile (PCI) che gli autori ed i loro collaboratori, medici e terapisti, hanno condotto negli ultimi anni, affronta i principali temi connessi alla valutazione delle funzioni adattive nelle forme spastiche della PCI (la definizione e le sue modifiche negli ultimi decenni, i nuovi orientamenti classificativi, l'eziopatogenesi, le correlazioni anatomo-funzionali, la semeiotica, i cosiddetti "disturbi associati": visivi, cognitivi, del comportamento). Lo scopo principale del volume non e quello di riportare lo "stato dell'arte" su questi argomenti, ma di offrire "appunti di viaggio" sui temi trattati, per suscitare riflessioni e confronti con l'esperienza dei lettori. Gli argomenti vengono trattati dagli autori secondoun'ottica fisiopatologica che guida la loro interpretazione della natura del difetto (diagnosi funzionale), dei problemi legati alla prognosi (come ipotesi di storia naturale) e alla riabilitazione (come modifica dell'architettura della funzione in senso adattivo). Il testo e corredato di un ampio glossario sui termini utilizzati e di un DVD con casi clinici, suddivisi in base alla classificazione proposta degli autori. Anche questo materiale sottolinea la grande utilita didattica del volume, sia per chi gia lavora in questo campo (medici, neuropsichiatri infantili e fisiatri, terapisti della riabilitazione), sia per gli allievi delle lauree di I e II livello dell'area della riabilitazione e delle Scuole di Specializzazione.

Anwendungsbezogen vermittelt der Praxis-Leitfaden Therapeuten und Arzten ein modernes, ganzheitliches Behandlungskonzept der Infantilen Zerebralparese (IZP). Genauere Diagnosekriterien erlauben heute eine Einteilung der IZP in klar definierte Formen und Varianten. Sie bilden die Grundlage fur eine differenzierte Prognose des spontanen Verlaufs beim einzelnen Kind und fur eine klare Einschatzung der Behandlungmoglichkeiten. Die Autoren beschreiben die vielfaltigen klinischen Erscheinungsformen der IZP und geben praktische Anleitung fur eine differenzierte Therapieplanung und ein individuell angepasstes therapeutisches Vorgehen. Dabei umfassen die therapeutischen Massnahmen auch psychosoziale Aspekte und Hilfsmittelversorgung."

This book provides a comprehensive review and update of the newest diagnostic and therapeutic tools in paediatric neurology. Special attention is paid to neuroradiologic and neurophysiologic techniques and to their clinical application, with guidelines and suggestions on how an integrated approach can be used to reach diagnosis. Some of the chapters focus on the new-born infant and the first years of life, highlighting the most appropriate MRI, clinical, and EEG techniques to investigate the developing brain. State-of-the-art techniques used in older children are also presented that afford a better understanding of the correlation between function and brain structure in young patients with brain lesions. New genetic discoveries are particularly emphasised, as is the possibility of performing accurate phenotype -- genotype correla-tion by combining the latest methods, such as muscle MRI and genetic information, in order to identify MRI patterns associated with specific genetic disorders. In all chapters an effort is made to combine technical data with clinical applications in order to show, when possible, how these novel procedures can also be used in rehabilitation. This book will be of interest to paediatricians, paediatric neuro-logists, neonatologists, and to all those who are involved in the diagnosis and care of children with neurologic disabilities.